KR100853005B1 - Unit, image forming apparatus, and method of manufacturing unit frame - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a unit, an image forming apparatus, and a unit frame which can improve the positioning accuracy with respect to the rotating body of the blade member.

The first reference surface of the boss portion provided on the surface of the frame with which the blade is in contact is formed by a first mold for forming a positioning hole for positioning the rotating body. The base 1 reference surface supports the blade member to prevent the blade member from moving in the weight direction. Thereby, there exists no manufacturing error of a 1st reference surface by the manufacturing error of a metal mold | die. As a result, the positioning accuracy of the blade member with respect to the rotating body can be increased.

Description

Unit, image forming apparatus, and manufacturing method of unit frame {UNIT, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING UNIT FRAME}

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a unit constituting an image forming apparatus, an image forming apparatus including the unit, and a manufacturing method of a unit frame.

In the conventional image forming apparatus, the cleaning blade is used to remove the transfer residual toner remaining on the surface of the rotating body which is the photosensitive member after the image transfer process (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). The cleaning blade is arranged to extend in parallel in the longitudinal direction with respect to the rotating body and arranged to be in contact with the rotating body or to have a predetermined distance from the rotating body.

In recent years, high quality is strongly required for an image formed by an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. In order to improve the image quality, it is effective to reduce the size of the toner and form a spherical shape toner. Toners formed by polymerization and substantially spherical (hereinafter, referred to as "spherical toner") have become mainstream. The spherical toner has a higher transfer efficiency than the conventional powder toner and is known to satisfy the demand for high image quality in recent years. But. The spherical toner increases the van der Waals force on the photoreceptor and increases the fixing force with the photoreceptor. Therefore, the contact pressure of a conventional cleaning blade acting on the photoconductor to remove the powder toner is not sufficient to scrape off residual toner on the photoconductor. By increasing the contact pressure of the cleaning blade on the photoreceptor, residual toner on the photoreceptor can be scraped off. However, if the contact pressure is too large, the friction force between the cleaning blade and the photosensitive member increases. Thus, the front end of the cleaning blade is folded or vibrated, and a small gap is generated between the cleaning blade and the photosensitive member. Since the polymerized toner is very small, there is a possibility that the polymerized toner passes through the side of the cleaning blade as if the gap is very small. Thus, in order to prevent the shearing of the front end and to scrape the residual toner satisfactorily, it is necessary for the cleaning blade to be in close contact with the photoreceptor with high precision, thereby obtaining a predetermined contact pressure.

Conventionally, the cleaning blade is installed in a cleaning case including a recovery unit for recovering toner scratched by the cleaning blade. This cleaning case is provided in the cover (frame) which supports the said photosensitive member, and positions the said cleaning blade on the said photosensitive member (for example, patent document 3). When the cleaning blade is positioned on the photosensitive member by installing the cleaning case on the cover, due to assembly errors between the cleaning blade and the cleaning case and between the cleaning case and the frame, It becomes difficult to touch.

Applicant of the present invention has developed a unit for installing the cleaning blade directly on the frame supporting the photosensitive member in order to increase the contact accuracy of the cleaning blade with respect to the photosensitive member. 14 is a perspective view of a relevant part of the unit. As shown in Fig. 14, the frame 500 supporting the photosensitive member 2 has a positioning hole 503 for positioning the photosensitive member 2 on the side plate 500a in the frame. The bearing 504 meshes with this positioning hole 503. The frame supports the photosensitive member 2 by inserting the rotating shaft 2a of the photosensitive member into the bearing 504. The frame 500 has a blade contact surface 501 extending opposite from this side of FIG. 14 to contact the cleaning blade 11. A boss portion 502 is provided on the contact surface 501 as a blade positioning unit for positioning the cleaning blade 11. Since the cleaning blade 11 is in contact with the contact surface 501 of the frame 500, the contact angle with the photosensitive member 2 is maintained at a predetermined angle. The cleaning blade 11 positioned by being directly installed on the frame supporting the photosensitive member 2 has no assembly error between the cleaning case and the cleaning blade and is indirectly installed on the frame via the cleaning case. It is superior to conventional cleaning blades that are positioned. Therefore, compared with the conventional method, the contact precision of the said cleaning blade 11 with respect to the photosensitive member 2 can be improved.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-117696

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-177935

Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-328583

However, according to the unit shown in Fig. 14, while the positioning hole 503 for positioning the photosensitive member in the frame is manufactured by a mold moving in the direction A of Fig. 14, the boss portion 502 ) Is manufactured by a mold moving in the direction B of FIG. Therefore, due to assembly errors between the mold moving in the A direction and the mold moving in the B direction in FIG. 14, a manufacturing error occurs in the positional relationship between the positioning hole 503 and the boss portion 502. As a result, the positioning accuracy of the cleaning blade 11 relative to the photoconductor 2 is deteriorated. Therefore, the cleaning blade 11 cannot contact the photosensitive member 2 with high precision.

This problem is not limited to the photoreceptor and the cleaning blade. For example, the same problem may arise with a doctor blade as a blade member which should be arrange | positioned, maintaining a predetermined gap with a developing rotation body. In addition, there is a possibility that the same problem occurs in the separating plate as the blade member that is to be arranged to have a predetermined gap from the fixed rotating body as the rotating body.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and an object thereof is to provide a unit, an image forming apparatus, and a manufacturing method of a unit frame capable of increasing the positioning accuracy of the blade member with respect to the roller.

In order to solve this problem and achieve the above object, the present invention is a rotating body; A blade arranged to extend substantially parallel to a longitudinal direction of the rotating body to contact the rotating body or to maintain a predetermined distance from the rotating body; And a frame provided with the rotor and the blade, the rotor having a rotor positioning unit configured to position the rotor at a predetermined position, and a blade positioning unit configured to position the blade at a predetermined position. And a unit in which the rotor positioning unit and the blade positioning unit are formed of the same mold.

The present invention also provides a unit in which the frame has a side plate, and wherein the rotor positioning unit is provided on the side plate. The blade positioning unit includes a protrusion projecting from the surface of the frame extending in the longitudinal direction of the frame. In order to prevent the blade from moving in the direction of gravity, the support surface of the protrusion on which the blade is supported has a height that is substantially constant in the longitudinal direction or has a height that is gently lowered toward the side plate.

In addition, the present invention is a support according to claim 1, wherein the blade has an elastic member fixed to the surface of the frame and a support configured to support the elastic member and the surface disposed in close contact with the surface of the frame extending in the longitudinal direction Provided is a unit comprising a member.

In addition, the present invention includes a unit carrying an image carrier configured to carry a toner image on a surface of the rotating body, wherein the blade unit is configured to remove residual toner remaining on the surface of the image carrier after a transfer process. To provide.

In addition, the present invention provides a unit having a belt shape of the image carrier.

The present invention also provides an image forming apparatus including a unit having an image carrier having a surface moving while fixing a toner image to a surface, and a cleaning blade for removing residual toner remaining on the surface after an image transfer process. The unit is detachably arranged in the image forming apparatus.

In addition, the present invention functions as an image carrier having the surface moving while the rotating body carries the toner image on the surface, and the blade functions as a cleaning blade for removing residual toner remaining on the surface of the image carrier after the image transfer process. An image forming apparatus comprising the unit is provided. The unit is detachably arranged in the image forming apparatus.

In addition, the present invention functions as an image carrier having the surface moving while the rotating body carries the toner image on the surface, and the blade functions as a cleaning blade for removing residual toner remaining on the surface of the image carrier after the image transfer process. An image forming apparatus comprising the unit is provided. The image carrier has a belt shape.

The present invention also provides an image forming apparatus in which the toner forming the toner image is a polymerized toner.

In addition, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a unit frame in which a rotating body and a blade are installed. The unit frame extends substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rotating body and is arranged to contact the rotating body or to maintain a predetermined distance from the rotating body. The rotor positioning unit configured to position the rotor and the blade positioning unit configured to position the blade member are manufactured using the same mold.

In addition, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a unit frame, wherein the rotating body positioning unit is formed on the side plate of the unit frame, and the blade positioning unit is formed in a protrusion projecting from the surface of the unit frame extending in the longitudinal direction. to provide. At least one or more support surfaces of the protrusions supporting the blades are substantially constant in the longitudinal direction or gradually lowered in height toward the side plates to prevent the blades from moving in the direction of gravity, forming the rotating body positioning unit. Molded into the mold used to

The present invention also provides a manufacturing method in which the face of the protrusion located on the side plate of the frame is molded into a mold for molding the rotating body positioning unit.

1 is a schematic diagram of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is an enlarged view of a process unit.

3 is a schematic view of a frame of the process unit.

4 is a schematic view of the process unit seen from the side of the first side plate.

5 is a schematic view of a second side plate of the frame of the process unit.

6 is a schematic view of a frame of the process unit as seen from the side of the second side plate.

Fig. 7 is a schematic view illustrating assembly of the photosensitive member and the cleaning device in the process unit.

8 is a schematic view for explaining a contact state between the photosensitive member and the cleaning blade.

9 is a schematic view of the frame portion formed by the first mold and the frame portion formed by the second mold.

FIG. 10A is a cross-sectional view of the molded die 1 in the first boss portion. FIG.

FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view of the molded die state 2 of the first boss portion. FIG.

11A is a schematic diagram of a modification 1 of the boss portion.

11B is a schematic diagram of a modification 2 of the boss portion.

11C is a schematic diagram of a modification 3 of the boss portion.

11D is a schematic diagram of a modification 4 of the boss portion.

12 is a schematic diagram for explaining the shape coefficient SF-1.

13 is a schematic view for explaining the shape coefficient SF-2.

14 is a schematic view of a unit in which the photosensitive member and the cleaning blade are integrally installed.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

1: process unit

2: photosensitive member (rotating body)

3: cleaning device

4: charging device

5: developing device

6: lubricant coating device

11: cleaning blade (blade member)

12: support plate

13: recovery unit

40: transcription unit

41: intermediate transfer belt

151: first mold

152: second mold

210: frame

220: first side plate

221: first contact surface

222: first positioning hole

227: first boss

250: second side plate

251: second blade contact surface

252: second positioning hole

257: second boss

Preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. An electrophotographic printer (hereinafter referred to as a "printer") is described as an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a schematic view of the printer. As shown in Fig. 1, the printer has four processes for generating toner images of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). Units 1Y, 1C, 1M and 1K. These process units use Y, C, M, K toners of different colors as image forming materials used to form an image, and have the same configuration. These toners are replaced at end of life. Since the process units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1K are all identical in configuration, the reference numerals Y, C, M, and K indicating the individual colors are omitted in the following description.

As shown in FIG. 2, the process unit 1 includes a drum-shaped photosensitive member 2, a drum cleaning device 5, a charging device 4, a developing device 5, and a drum-shaped photosensitive member 2 accommodated in a frame (not shown). Has a lubricant coating device (6). The process unit 1 is detachable from the printer and can replace consumable parts at one time.

The charging device 4 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive member 2 that rotates clockwise by a drive unit (not shown). Fig. 1 shows the non-contact charging cycle in which charging bias is applied by a power supply not shown, but the charging rotating body 4a rotating in the counterclockwise direction is not contacted with the photosensitive member 2 so as to uniformly charge the photosensitive member. The charging apparatus 4 of the whole system is shown. As for the charging device 4, a scorotron method, a corotron method, a contact rotor method and the like can be used in addition to the non-contact charging rotating body method. However, in the scorotron method, ozone is generated at the time of discharge, and therefore, it is not preferable in view of the environment. In the contact with the corotron method and the non-contacting rotary body method, the contact and non-contacting rotary body method that can suppress the generation of ozone although the generation of ozone is small. Comparing the contact rotor system and the non-contact rotor system, since the non-contact rotor system does not come into contact with the photosensitive member 2, adhesion of transfer residual toner is suppressed, and the above-mentioned point of view of the residue on the charging rotor 4a is prevented. It is superior to the contact type charging rotor system.

The system for applying the charging bias to the contact and non-contact charging rotating body 4a includes a system that superimposes alternating current with respect to direct current and a system for applying only direct current. The charging bias for superimposing alternating current with respect to direct current in the contact type charging rotor 4a is controlled by alternating current to a constant current so that the surface of the charging rotor 4a is changed even if the resistance of the charging rotor is changed due to environmental changes. There is an advantage that the potential is not affected. However, the cost of the power supply becomes high and the noise of AC frequency becomes a problem. On the other hand, in the non-contact type charging rotary body 4a, the surface of the photosensitive member 2 changes the gap between the photosensitive member 2 and the charging rotating body 4a according to the charging bias in which alternating current is superposed on the direct current. Due to this, the charging cannot be made uniformly, which results in an uneven image. Therefore, there is a need for a charging bias correction unit that corrects according to the gap variation.

In a system in which only a direct current is applied, when the resistance value of the charging rotor 4a changes due to environmental changes, both the non-contact system and the contact system are completely affected, and the surface potential of the charging rotor 4a is changed. Fluctuates. Therefore, there is a need for a charging bias correction unit that corrects according to environmental changes.

The charge bias correction unit includes a temperature sensor and an applied voltage replacement unit adjacent to the charge rotating body 4a. Based on the detection result by the temperature sensor, the replacement unit changes the applied voltage, thereby correcting the charging bias. Alternatively, debris on the photoreceptor 2 can be detected on a regular basis, changing the applied voltage based on the detection result, thereby correcting the charging bias.

Based on this method, the surface of the charging rotor 4a is charged from about -500 volts to -700 volts.

The charging rotor 4a is rotatable with the photosensitive member 2 or by using a driving force of a driving source for driving the photosensitive member 2 using a gear. Generally, the low speed device drives the charging rotating body 4a together with the photosensitive member 2. High speed devices that require high picture quality use the latter method.

In the example shown in Fig. 2, a charging rotor cleaner 4b for cleaning the surface of the charging rotor 4a is provided. Thereby, it can suppress that the photosensitive member 2 is not charged by target electric potential by the substance adhering to the said charging rotating body 4a. As a result, abnormal images due to charge failure can be suppressed. The charging rotor cleaner 4b is generally composed of melanin, and rotates together with the charging rotor 4a.

The developing device 5 has a first accommodating unit 5e in which the first conveying screw 5a is installed. In addition, the developing apparatus 5 includes a toner density sensor 5c (hereinafter referred to as "T sensor"), a second conveying screw 5b, a developing rotating body 5g, and a doctor blade 5d, each of which has a permeability sensor. Has a 2nd accommodating unit 5f which is installed. Each of the two receiving units includes a developer including a magnetic carrier (not shown) and a negatively charged toner. The first conveying screw 5a is rotated by a drive unit (not shown), thereby conveying the developer in the first accommodating unit from this side to the opposite side in FIG. 2. The developer enters the second accommodation unit 5f through a communication port (not shown) formed in the partition wall between the first accommodation unit 5e and the second accommodation unit 5f. The second conveying screw 5b in the second accommodating unit 5f is rotated by a drive unit (not shown), thereby conveying the developer therefrom from the opposite side in FIG. 2. The T sensor 5c fixed to the bottom of the second accommodating unit 5f senses the toner concentration of the developer to be conveyed. The developing rotor 5g, which is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 and includes the magnetic rotor 5i in the non-magnetic pipe 5h, carries the second conveying screw 5b for conveying the developer in this manner. Are arranged in parallel above. The developer conveyed by the second conveying screw 5b is placed on the surface of the nonmagnetic pipe 5h by the magnetic force generated by the magnetic rotating body 5i. The doctor blade 5d arranged to maintain a predetermined distance from the nonmagnetic pipe 5h limits the layer thickness of the developer, and the developer is conveyed to the developing region facing the photosensitive member 2. The toner is attached to an electrostatic image of the photoconductor 2. By this adhesion, a Y toner image is formed on the photosensitive member 2. The developer, which consumed the toner by the development, is returned to the second conveying screw 5b that involves the rotation of the nonmagnetic pipe 5h of the developing rotor 5g. After the developer has been conveyed to the front end of Fig. 2, the developer returns to the first accommodating unit 5e through a communication port (not shown).

The detection result of the permeability of the developer by the T sensor 5c is sent to the control unit, not shown, as a voltage signal. The magnetic permeability of the developer correlates with the toner concentration of the developer. Therefore, the T sensor 5c outputs a voltage corresponding to the toner concentration. The controller has a random access memory (RAM) for storing data of Vtref as a target value of the output voltage from the T sensor 5c. The developing device 5 compares the output voltage from the T sensor 5c with Vtref to drive a toner supply device not shown for a time corresponding to the comparison result. By this driving, an appropriate amount of toner is supplied from the first accommodating unit 5e to the developer whose toner concentration decreases as a result of the consumption of the toner used for the development. For this reason, the toner concentration of the developer in the second accommodating unit 5f is maintained at a predetermined level.

The cleaning device 3 removes the transfer residual toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor 2 from the surface of the photoconductor 2 without being transferred. The cleaning device 3 has a cleaning blade 11 as a blade member joined to the surface of the photoconductor in the counterclockwise direction. The cleaning blade 11 includes an elastic plate 11a made of urethane rubber or the like and a support plate 11b for supporting the elastic plate 11a. The cleaning device 3 has a recovery unit 13 for recovering the transfer residual toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor 2 removed by the cleaning blade 11. The recovery unit 13 has a conveyor auger 14 for conveying the toner recovered by the recovery unit to a waste torner bottle (not shown). The support plate 11b fixes the recovery unit 13 with the screw 15 to an almost intermediate position of the support plate 11b in the axial direction.

The cleaning blade 11 removes transfer residual toner on the surface of the photoconductor 2. The transfer residual toner remaining at the tip of the cleaning blade 11 falls on the recovery unit 13. In order to store the waste toner in the toner container, the conveying auger 14 conveys the toner dropped as the waste toner to the waste toner container (not shown). The serviceman collects the waste toner stored in the waste toner container. The transfer residual toner recovered in the recovery unit 13 can be conveyed to the developing apparatus 5 as regenerated toner and used again for the development.

The lubricant coating device 6 lowers the coefficient of friction of the surface of the photoconductor 2 by coating a lubricant on the surface of the photoconductor. The lubricant is formed as a solid lubricant 6a and the solid lubricant 6a is pressed with a fur brush 6c which is rotated by a pressure spring 6b, thereby pressing the solid lubricant 6a The surface of the photoconductor 2 is coated via a fur brush 6c. Zinc stearate (ZnSt) is most commonly used as a lubricant. Insulated PET, conductive PET, acrylic fibers and the like are used for the fur brush 6c. The lubricant coated on the surface of the photoconductor is attached to the surface of the photoconductor with uniform thickness by being pressed by the lubricant coating blade 6d. When the lubricant is coated on the surface of the photoconductor 2, it is possible to prevent the filming of the photoconductor 2.

As shown in Fig. 1, the optical recording unit 20 is disposed below the process unit 1Y, 1C, 1M and 1K. As the latent image forming unit, the optical recording unit 20 irradiates the laser light L emitted based on the image information to the respective photosensitive members of the process units 1Y, 1C, 1M and 1K. With this arrangement, latent electrostatic images for Y, C, M and K are formed on the photoconductors 2Y, 2C, 2M and 2K. The optical recording unit 20 polarizes the laser light L by a polygon mirror 21 rotated by a motor, and passes the laser light L emitted from a light source through a plurality of optical lenses or mirrors. (2Y, 2C, 2M and 2K).

In FIG. 1, the first paper feed cassette 31 and the second paper feed cassette 32 are disposed so as to overlap in the vertical direction below the optical recording unit 20. In this paper feed cassette, a plurality of transfer papers P is stored as a bundle as a recording medium. The upper transfer paper P is placed in contact with each of the first paper feeding rotor 31a and the second paper feeding rotor 32a. When the first paper feed rotating body 31a is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 by a drive unit (not shown), the upper transfer paper P in the first paper feeding cassette 31 is the right side of the cassette. It is discharged toward a paper feed path 33 arranged to extend in a direction perpendicular to the paper feed path. When the second paper feeding rotor 32a is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 by a drive unit (not shown), the upper transfer paper P in the second paper cassette 32 is a paper feeder. feed path 33). A plurality of pairs of conveying rotors 34 are disposed in the paper feed passage 33. The transfer paper P sent to the paper feed passage 33 is sandwiched between the pairs of conveying rotors 34, and is conveyed from the lower side of FIG. 1 to the upper side in the paper feed passage 33.

A pair of resistance rotors 35 are disposed at the end of the paper feed passage 33. Immediately after the transfer paper P sent from the pair of conveying rotors 34 is inserted, the pair of resistance rotors 35 stops rotating once. The pair of resistance rotors 35 then transfers the transfer paper P to a second transfer nip described later at an appropriate timing.

In Fig. 1, the transfer unit 40 which constantly moves the intermediate transfer belt 41 in the counterclockwise direction is disposed in the process units 1Y, 1C, 1M and 1K. The transfer unit 40 includes a belt cleaning device 42, a first bracket 43 and a second bracket 44 as well as an intermediate transfer belt 41. In addition, the transfer unit 40 includes four primary transfer rotors 45Y, 45C, 45M and 45K, secondary transfer backup rotor 46, drive rotor 47, auxiliary rotor 48, and tension. Rotating body 49 and the like. The intermediate transfer belt 41 constantly moves counterclockwise in FIG. 1 around the eight rotors by the rotation of the drive rotor 47. The four primary transfer rotors 45Y, 45C, 45M and 45K and the photosensitive members 2Y, 2C, 2M and 2K sandwich the intermediate transfer belt 41 which is constantly moving between the rotor and the photosensitive member. , Thereby forming primary transfer nips, respectively. A transfer bias having a polarity opposite to that of the toner (for example, positive) is applied to the back surface (inner circumferential surface of the loop) of the intermediate transfer belt 41. The intermediate belt 41 is a process of sequentially passing through the primary transfer nip for Y, C, M and K by the continuous movement, Y, C, M of the photosensitive member (2Y, 2C, 2M and 2K) And K toner images are sequentially superimposed on the front surface of the intermediate transfer belt 41, whereby the images are first transferred. As a result, the four color toner images (hereinafter, the "four-color toner images") superimposed on each other are formed on the intermediate transfer belt 41.

The secondary transfer rotating body 50 disposed outside the loop of the secondary transfer backup rotating body 46 and the intermediate transfer belt 41 sandwiches the intermediate transfer belt 41 therebetween, and performs the secondary transfer. To form a nip. The pair of resistive rotors 35 sends the transfer paper P sandwiched between the rotors simultaneously with the four-color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 41 to the secondary transfer nip. The four-color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 41 is a secondary transfer field formed between the secondary transfer rotating body 50 to which the secondary transfer bias is applied and the secondary transfer backup rotating body 46. The secondary transfer is collectively carried out on the transfer paper P in the secondary transfer nip by the influence of a) and the nip pressure. The secondary transfer image and the white of the transfer paper P form a full-color toner image.

After the intermediate transfer belt 41 passes through the secondary transfer nip, transfer residual toner that is not transferred to the transfer paper P is attached to the intermediate transfer belt 41. The cleaning device 42 cleans the transfer residual toner on the belt.

A fastening device 60 comprising a pressure rotating body 61 and a fastening belt unit 62 is disposed above the secondary transfer nip of FIG. 1. The fixing belt unit 62 of the fixing device 60 is half in FIG. 1 while tensioning the fixing belt 64 including the heating rotating body 63, the tension rotating body 65, and the driving rotating body 66. Constantly moving clockwise. The heating rotating body 63 includes a heating source such as a halogen lamp, and heats the fixing belt 64 from its rear surface. The pressure rotating body 61 rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 is in contact with the front surface of the heated fixing belt 64 to which the heating rotating body 63 is applied. As a result, the fixed nip in which the pressure rotating body 61 and the fixing belt 64 come into contact with each other is formed.

The transfer paper P passing through the secondary transfer nip is separated from the intermediate transfer belt 41 and sent to the fixing device 60. The transfer paper P is heated and pressurized by the fixing belt 64 while being conveyed from the lower side of FIG. 1 to the upper side by being fitted by the fixing nip, and all full-collor images are fixed.

The transfer paper P subjected to the fixing process passes through the pair of discharge rotating bodies 67 and is discharged to the outside of the printer. The stack unit 68 is formed on the upper surface of the case of the printer body. The transfer paper P discharged to the outside of the printer by a pair of discharge rotors 67 is sequentially stacked in the stack unit 68.

Four toner cartridges 100Y, 100C, 100M and 100K, each containing each of Y, C, M and K toners, are disposed in the transfer unit 40. The Y, C, M, and K toners of the toner cartridges 100Y, 100C, 100M, and 100K are appropriately supplied to the developing apparatus of each of the process units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1K. The toner cartridges 100Y, 100C, 100M and 100K are detachably installed in the printer body independently for each of the process units 1Y, 1C, 1M and 1K.

In the printer having the above configuration, the toner image forming unit for forming a toner image on the transfer paper P as a recording medium includes the four process units 1Y, 1C, 1M and 1K, and the optical recording unit 20. And a combination of the transfer unit 40 and the like.

3 shows a frame 210 of the process unit 1. 4 shows the process unit 1 seen from the first side plate 220. As shown in FIG. 3, the frame 210 of the process unit 1 includes a charging device positioning plate 211 extending opposite from the first side plate 220 therein in FIG. 3. The frame 210 comprises a lubricant receiving unit 270 constituting the lubricant coating device 6 and containing the solid lubricant 6a. The first side plate 220 is formed with a first positioning hole 222 as a rotating body positioning unit for determining the position of the photosensitive member 2. The positioning hole 222 is engaged with the bearing 244, and the rotating shaft 2a of the photosensitive member 2 is supported by the bearing as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, when assembling the photosensitive member 2, a provisional placement unit 232 for temporarily placing the photosensitive member 2 is formed in the frame 210 at the rear surface of FIG. 3. The guide groove 223 in which the developing device 5 is installed, and the mounting holes 225 and 226 used to install the developing device 5 in the frame 210, have the first side plate 220 in FIG. 3. Is formed on the left side. As shown in FIG. 4, a shaft 242 extending from the developing rotor of the developing apparatus 5 is inserted into the guide groove 223, and the shaft 511 is a face plate (indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 4). face plate) is inserted into the shaft insert 242. Mounting protrusions 521 and 522 extending from the developing device 5 are inserted into the mounting holes 225 and 226. The hole 241 of the face plate 240 is engaged with the bearing 244. The face plate 240 is installed in the first side plate 220 by engaging the screw with the screw hole 243 formed on the face plate 240.

As shown in FIG. 3, a first blade contact surface 221 in close contact with the support plate 11b of the cleaning blade is formed on the right side of the side plate 220 of the frame 210 in FIG. 3. The first blade contact surface 221 has a substantially rectangular first boss portion 227 as a blade positioning unit for determining the position of the cleaning blade 11. Installation of the cleaning blade 11 to the frame 210 and the boss portion 227 will be described later.

FIG. 5 illustrates a second side plate 250 installed on the rear surface of the frame 210 shown in FIG. 3. 6 shows the process unit 1 as viewed from the side of the second side plate 250. As shown in FIG. 5, a second blade contact surface 251 in close contact with the support plate 11b of the cleaning blade is formed on the right side of the second side plate 250 in FIG. 5. The second blade contact surface 251 is a blade positioning unit for positioning the cleaning blade 11 and has a substantially rectangular second boss portion 257. As shown in FIG. 6, the support plate 11b of the cleaning blade 11 is fixed to the second blade contact surface 251 with a screw 282.

As shown in FIG. 5, the second side plate 250 has a second positioning hole 252 for arranging the photosensitive member 2. As shown in FIG. 6, the bearing 256 is engaged with the positioning hole 252, and the rotating shaft 2a of the photosensitive member 2 is supported by the bearing 256. As shown in FIG. 5, the second side plate 250 has a shaft support hole 253 and thereby the shaft 511 extending from the developing rotor of the developing apparatus as shown in FIG. 6. I support it. As shown in FIG. 5, the second side plate 250 has a brush rotor guide groove 255. The rotating shaft 60c of the brush rotating body 6c of the lubricant coating device 6 is guided to the brush rotating body guide groove 255.

As shown in FIG. 6, the rotating shaft 2a of the photosensitive member 2 has a coupling 141 which engages with a drive unit not shown when the process unit 1 is installed in the apparatus main body. The assembly of the process unit 1 is described next.

7 illustrates the assembly of the photosensitive member 2 and the cleaning device 3. First, one side of the rotation shaft 2a of the photoconductor 2 is inserted into the bearing 244 of the first side plate 220, and the photoconductor 2 is the bearing 244 and the provisional part 232. Is temporarily installed in the frame 210. Next, the other side of the rotating shaft 2a of the photosensitive member 2 is inserted into the bearing 254 of the second side plate 250. As a result, the photosensitive member 2 is positioned in the frame 210. Next, the first boss portion 227 is inserted into the first positioning hole 282a provided in the support plate 11b of the cleaning blade 11, and the second boss portion 257 is It is inserted into the second positioning hole 282b of the supporting plate 11b, thereby positioning the cleaning blade 11. After the cleaning blade 11 is positioned, as shown in FIG. 6, the support plate 221 is fixed to the contact surfaces 251 and 221 with a screw. After the cleaning blade 11 is installed on the frame 210, the solid lubricant 6a and the brush rotating body 6c constituting the lubricant coating device 6 are installed on the frame 210, The charging device 4 is installed on the positioning plate 211 of the frame 210. The shaft 511 of the developing device 5 is inserted into the shaft support hole 253 and the guide groove 223, respectively, and the developing device 5 uses the face plate 250 to thereby provide the frame 210. It is installed in).

Thus, in this embodiment, the said cleaning blade 11 is directly installed in the said frame 210 which supports the said photosensitive member 2. As shown in FIG. Therefore, the cleaning blade 11 can be positioned on the photosensitive member with high precision.

8 shows a contact state between the photosensitive member 2 and the cleaning blade 11. Although the 1st blade contact surface 221 is demonstrated here, the 2nd blade contact surface 251 also applies. As shown in FIG. 8, the contact state of the cleaning blade 11 with respect to the photosensitive member is defined by the first blade contact surface 221 extending in the axial direction parallel to the photosensitive member 2, and the cleaning blade 11. Is provided on the first blade contact surface 221 to support the cleaning blade 11 of the first boss portion 227 so as not to move in the weight direction, and has a large relation with the first reference surface 227a. have. That is, the angle at which the cleaning blade 11 is in contact with the photosensitive member 2 is the blade contact surface 221 with respect to the installation reference position (center M of the photosensitive member positioning hole 222) of the photosensitive member 2. Is determined by the inclination angle of In addition, the position of the cleaning blade 11 above and below the position of the first reference plane 227a of the boss portion 227 relative to the photosensitive member 2 is determined. Determining the contact angle with respect to the photosensitive member and the position in the vertical direction determines the bite and the contact pressure of the cleaning blade with respect to the photosensitive member 2.

In this embodiment, a polymerized toner having a substantially spherical shape of small diameter is used to obtain high quality. A substantially spherical polymeric toner of small diameter increases the van der Waals forces on the photoreceptor 2 and increases the holding force with the photoreceptor 2. As a result, if the tip of the cleaning blade 11 is slightly folded or slightly vibrated, there is a possibility that the polymer toner cannot be scraped off. Therefore, the cleaning blade 11 needs to contact the photoconductor 2 with high precision so that the contact conditions such as the contact pressure, the bite, and the contact angle with respect to the photoconductor 2 are within an optimum range. In particular, the bite of the cleaning blade for the photoreceptor needs to be limited to ± 25 micrometers (μm) or less. The contact condition of the cleaning blade 11 with respect to the photosensitive member 2 is greatly dependent on the installation position of the cleaning blade 11 on the frame 210 and the installation position of the photosensitive member 2 on the frame 210. Change.

This is explained below. If the first reference plane 227a of the boss portion 227 is positioned above the reference plane 227a shown in solid lines as indicated by the dotted line 227a 'due to manufacturing errors, the bite and the contact pressure increase. As a result, vibration and curling occur, causing cleaning failure. Further, when the first reference plane 227a of the boss portion 227 is positioned below the reference position shown by the solid line as indicated by the dotted line 227a "in FIG. 8 due to manufacturing error, the byte and As a result, the contact pressure decreases, and as a result, the cleaning blade 11 cannot remove the polymerized toner from the photoconductor 2, resulting in poor cleaning.

 At least the first reference surface 227a of the boss portion 227 positions the photosensitive member 2 so as to accurately position the photosensitive member 2 with respect to the first reference surface 227a of the boss portion 227. It is desirable to make the same mold as that used to form the positioning holes 222 for determination. When the positioning hole 222 and the first reference plane 227a are molded into the same mold, an error between the positioning hole 222 and the first reference plane 227a is only a manufacturing error of the mold. Thus, unlike the error that occurs when the positioning hole 222 and the first reference surface 227a are molded using separate molds, assembly errors of the molds do not occur. As a result, the positioning holes 222 and the first reference plane 227a are manufactured with high precision as compared to when the positioning holes 222 and the first reference plane 227a are formed by using individual molds. Can be.

By injection molding molten resin in the mold, the frame 210 is made of resin. 9 is a schematic view of a frame portion molded by a first mold (indicated by a shaded portion) and a frame portion molded by a second mold. As shown in FIG. 9, the first mold mainly forms the first side plate 220 of the frame. In particular, the first mold forms a part of the photosensitive member positioning hole 222 and the first blade contact surface 221, and forms the first boss portion 227. The second mold mainly forms a part of the frame 210 extending in the axial direction. After shaping the frame, the first mold is removed from the frame 210 to move to the right in FIG. 9 and to form the photosensitive member positioning hole 222. On the other hand, after forming the frame, the second mold is moved to the left in FIG. 9 and removed from the frame 210.

10A and 10B are lateral cross-sectional views for explaining the molding state of the first boss portion 227. 10A shows the shaping state of the first rectangular boss portion according to the present embodiment. Fig. 10B shows a molding state of a conventional circular boss portion. Reference numeral 151 in FIGS. 10A and 10B denotes the first mold, and 152 denotes the second mold.

As shown in Fig. 10B, when the boss portion is circular and is molded so that the first mold can be pulled out, the first mold needs to mold half of the boss portion, and the second mold is the remainder of the boss portion. It is necessary to mold the half. That is, since the point F exists at a higher position than the point E located downstream of the direction in which the first mold 151 is pulled out, the first mold 151 is pulled out in the D direction after molding to the point E. . When the first mold 151 and the second mold 152 are used to mold the circular first boss portion 227, the second mold 152 is assembled to the second mold 152. The error has the potential to deviate upwards as indicated by the dashed line. As a result, the cleaning blade 11 is positioned at F 'in Fig. 10B, and the cleaning blade cannot be accurately positioned on the photosensitive member.

Meanwhile, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10A, the first boss portion 227 is rectangular, and the first reference plane 227a has a flat shape. Since the height of the first reference plane 227a downstream of the mold ejecting direction becomes the same as the height of the first reference plane 227a upstream in the ejecting direction of the mold, the first mold 151 is moved in the D direction. Can be subtracted with

The first reference plane 227a of the first boss 227 may have any shape as long as the height of the first reference plane decreases gradually toward the first side plate or the first reference plane has a flat surface. The first reference plane 227a may have a semicircular shape as shown in FIG. 11A or a rectangular shape having a long length in the axial direction as shown in FIG. 11B. In contrast, the first reference plane 227a has a uniform shape as shown in FIG. 11C or has a U-shape as shown in FIG. 11D. As such, when the height of the first reference plane 227a gradually decreases toward the first side plate or the first reference plane has a flat surface, the first reference plane 227a may be formed using only the first mold. have. As a result, the first reference plane 227a and the photosensitive member positioning hole 222 can be formed by the first mold, and the cleaning blade 11 can be positioned on the photosensitive member 2 with high precision. have.

Preferably, the first reference plane 227a has the flat portion shown in FIGS. 11B-11D. If the first reference plane 227a has a semicircular shape as shown in Fig. 11A, the first reference plane becomes point X, and it is difficult to form the point X with high precision. That is, since only point X becomes the reference position of the cleaning blade, it is difficult to position this point X in the positioning hole of the photosensitive member with high precision. Therefore, it is difficult to manufacture a mold having a high positional accuracy between the positioning hole 222 and the first reference surface 227a. On the other hand, if the first reference surface (227a) has a flat surface as shown in Figs. 11B to 11D. The first reference plane 227a and the photosensitive member positioning hole 222 may be positioned with high precision while manufacturing the mold. Therefore, a mold can be produced that satisfies the high positional relationship accuracy between the positioning hole 222 and the first reference plane 227a.

The surface 227b of the boss portion at the side of the first side plate becomes a second reference surface as a positioning unit for positioning the cleaning blade 11 with respect to the photosensitive member in the axial direction. Therefore, when the second reference surface 227b is shaped by the first mold 151 forming the photosensitive member positioning hole 222 for determining the position of the photosensitive member 2, the cleaning blade 11 is It can be positioned in the axial direction with high precision. As shown in FIGS. 10A, 10B, 11C, and 11D, when the second reference plane 227b of the boss portion is formed to extend straight downward, the photosensitive member positioning hole 222 and the second reference plane 227b are formed. ) Can be positioned with high precision while manufacturing the mold.

If the first reference plane is long enough, the cleaning blade 11 can be positioned using only the first boss portion.

Although the shaping of the first boss portion 227 has been described, the method can also be applied to the second boss portion 257.

As shown in FIG. 8, preferably, the elastic plate 11a of the cleaning blade is fixed to the same surface of the support plate 11b to which the first blade contact surface 221 is in close contact. When the elastic plate 11a is fixed to the same surface of the support plate 11b to which the first blade contact surface 221 is in close contact, the thickness variation of the support plate 11b can be ignored. Therefore, the cleaning blade 11 can contact the photosensitive member 2 with high precision.

The toner applicable to the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment is described next. In this embodiment, a circular polymerized toner of small particle diameter is used. In particular, toners satisfying the following conditions (a) to (d) are preferable.

(a) Average circularity is 0.90 to 0.99.

(b) The shape coefficient SF-1 is 120 to 180.

(c) The shape factor SF-2 is 120 to 190.

(d) Particle size distribution (volume average particle diameter (Dv) / number average particle diameter (Dn)) is from 1.05 to 1.30.

As a method of instructing a user to use particles satisfying the above conditions, toners satisfying all the conditions (a) to (d) can be packaged with the printer to be transported to the user. Alternatively, the production number and product name of the toner may be specified in the printer body or the instruction manual of the printer. Alternatively, the toner containers BY, BM, BC, and BK are installed in the printer main body so as to be transported in this state as a toner accommodating unit for accommodating the toner. The printer according to the present embodiment uses all of these methods, but any one of these is sufficient.

The toner that satisfies the condition (a) is determined for the following reason. If the toner has a circularity of less than 0.9, that is, the toner has an irregular shape rather than a sherical shape, transferability deteriorates sharply, and transfer toner scattering easily occurs at the electrostatic transfer time. Occurs. If the toner has an average circularity of less than 0.90, it becomes difficult to form a high precision image having a reproducibility of an appropriate density. If the toner has an average circularity of more than 0.99, poor cleaning of the object to be removed, such as the photoreceptor and the intermediate transfer belt, occurs in an apparatus employing blade cleaning, and the image is easily soiled. When outputting an image having a relatively low image area ratio, there is almost no transfer residual toner, and the cleaning failure is rarely a problem. However, the cleaning failure easily occurs when outputting a color photographic image having a high image area ratio or when an image which has not yet been transferred remains in the photosensitive member due to a misfeeding or the like. Preferred average circularities range from 0.93 to 0.97. More preferably, the amount of toner particles having a roundness smaller than 0.94 is limited to 10% or less.

The average circularity of the toner can be measured as follows. First, a suspension containing test toner particles is passed through a flat plate-shaped image unit detection belt, and a charge coupled device (CCD) camera optically captures the particle image. For each particle image, the average value is obtained by dividing the circumferential length of a circle having the same projected area by the circumferential length of actual particles. This average value is said average circularity. In order to measure the average circularity, for example, a fluid particle image analyzer FPIA-2100 (manufactured by Toa Medical Electronics Co., Ltd.) is used. If this analyzer is used, a surfactant, preferably alkyl benzene sulfonic acid, is added in the range of 0.1 to 0.5 milliliters (ml) as a dispersant to 100 to 150 milliliters (ml) of water from which the solid impurities have been previously removed from the vessel. In addition, the test toner is added in about 0.1 to 0.5 grams. This suspension is dispersed for about 1 to 3 minutes with an ultrasonic disperser and the dispersion concentration is adjusted from 30,000 to 10,000 μl. This dispersion is applied to the analyzer to measure the shape and the distribution of the toner.

The toner that satisfies the condition (b) or (c) is determined for the following reason. The shape factor SF-1 and the shape factor SF-2 are parameters representing the shape of the toner and are well known in the powder engineering art. The shape factor SF-1 represents the roundness of a spherical material such as toner particles. As shown in FIG. 12, the spherical material is projected onto a two-dimensional plane. The maximum diameter length (MXLNG) of the ellipse obtained by this projection is squared and divided by the area (AREA) multiplied by 100π / 4. That is, the shape coefficient SF-1 can be expressed as follows. If the shape factor SF-1 is 100, this spherical material is a perfect sphere. As the SF-1 value becomes larger, the shape of the spherical material becomes indefinite.

Shape factor SF-1 = {(MXLNG) ² / AREA} × (100π / 4)

The shape factor SF-2 indicates the degree of irregularities on the surface of the spherical material. As shown in FIG. 13, the circumferential length PERI of a shape obtained by projecting a spherical material onto a two-dimensional plane is squared, and the value divided by the area AREA is multiplied by 100π / 4. That is, the shape coefficient SF-2 can be expressed as follows. If the shape coefficient SF-2 is 100, this spherical material does not have irregularities on the surface. As the shape factor SF-2 value becomes larger, the unevenness of the spherical material becomes remarkable.

Shape factor SF-2 = {(PERI) ² / AREA} × (100π / 4)

It has been found in the studies conducted by the inventors of the present invention that the transfer efficiency is increased when the toner shape is close to a perfect sphere. This is because the contact area between the toner particles and the contact material becomes small when the toner shape is close to a perfect sphere (such as between toner particles or between the toner particles and the image carrier). As a result, the toner fluidity becomes large or the adsorption force to the material is weakened, so that it is easily affected by the transfer electric field. It has been found in the studies conducted by the inventors of the present invention that the transfer coefficient deteriorates rapidly when the form factor SF-1 exceeds 180 and the form factor SF-2 exceeds 190.

However, if the toner shape is close to a perfect sphere, this adversely affects mechanical cleaning (blade cleaning, etc.). This is because the fluidity is increased so that the toner easily passes through a small gap between the cleaning member and the material to be cleaned. According to a study conducted by the inventor, when the shape coefficient SF-1 and the shape coefficient SF-2 are smaller than 120, the cleaning power suddenly deteriorates.

Further, the shape coefficient SF-1 and the shape coefficient SF-2 can be obtained as follows. FE-SEM (S-800) manufactured by Hitachi Ltd. is used to sequentially take images of 100 randomly selected toner particles. The image information is sent to an image analyzer LUSEX3 manufactured by NIRECO Corporation to obtain MXLING, AREA, and PERI. As a result, the average value of the shape coefficients per 100 toner particles is calculated by the above-described formula.

The toner that satisfies the condition (d) is determined for the following reasons. The particle distribution (volume average particle diameter (Dv) / number average particle diameter (Dn)) is one parameter representing the toner particle distribution. Dry toners having a volume average particle diameter (Dv) / number average particle diameter (Dn) of 1.05 to 1.30 preferably 1.10 to 1.25 have a narrow distribution of toner particles. Therefore, there are various advantages of this toner.

For example, if the volume average particle diameter (Dv) is 4 to 8 micrometers (µm) and the volume average particle diameter (Dv) / number average particle diameter (Dn) is from 1.05 to 1.30, the powder toner is Has an advantage. Toner particles having a particle diameter suitable for the electrostatic latent image pattern can stably form images of various patterns because of the phenomenon in which they contribute to development in advance of other toner advances. When the apparatus adopts a configuration of recovering toner remaining in the image carrier (such as the photoconductor) and using it again, a large amount of toner particles having a small size that cannot be easily transferred can be reproduced. When a toner having a relatively high particle distribution is reproduced, a large change in particle size occurs during the time from toner replenishment to the next toner replenishment, which in turn affects the developing performance. If the volume average particle diameter (Dv) of the toner is smaller than the above-mentioned range and this toner is used for the two-component developer, the toner is fused to the support surface for a long time stirring in the developing apparatus, and the Decreases charging ability. When this toner is used for the one-component developer, the toner easily fuses to a member such as a blade for forming the film on the developing rotating body and thinning the toner. That is, when the volume average particle diameter Dv of the toner is larger than the above-mentioned range, it becomes difficult to obtain a high resolution and high quality image. Also, when toner is supplied to the developer, the particle diameter of the toner largely changes.

In addition, the particle distribution of the toner can be measured by a measuring device following the Coulter Counter method such as Coulter Counter TA-II (manufactured by Beckman Coulter, Inc.) and Coulter Multisizer II. Specifically, surfactants (preferably alkyl benzene sulfonic acids) are added as dispersants from 0.1 to 5 millimeters (mm) to 100 to 150 milliliters (ml) of aqueous electrolyte solution. About 1 percent aqueous NaCl solution is prepared using primary sodium chloride. For example, ISOTON-II (manufactured by Beckman Coulter) can be used. In addition, 2 to 20 milligrams (mg) of measurement sample are added to the obtained solution. This aqueous solution is dispersed for about 1 to 3 minutes with an ultrasonic disperser. The above-described measuring apparatus is used to measure a volume using a 100 micrometer (μm) hole and to measure the number of toner particles or toner, and calculate the volume distribution and the number distribution. The volume average particle diameter (Dv) and the number average particle diameter (Dn) of the toner can be obtained from the obtained distribution. The thirteen channels are used to measure toner particles having a particle size of greater than 2.00 micrometers (μm) and less than 40.30 micrometers. The 13 channels range from less than 2.00 to 2.52 micrometers (μm), 2.52 to less than 3.17 micrometers (μm), 3.17 to 4.00 micrometers (μm), 4.00 to 5.04 micrometers (μm), and 5.04 to 6.35 Less than micrometers (μm), 6.35 to less than 8.00 micrometers (μm), 8.00 to less than 10.08 micrometers (μm), 10.08 to less than 12.70 micrometers (μm), 12.70 to less than 16.00 micrometers (μm), 16.00 to 20.20 It is intended to be less than micrometers (μm), less than 20.20 to 25.40 micrometers (μm), 25.40 to less than 32.00 micrometers (μm), and 32.00 to less than 40.30 micrometers (μm).

Although the positioning of the cleaning blade relative to the photosensitive member within the process unit is described in this embodiment, the positioning is not limited to this. Further, for example, the method of the present invention is also applicable to the positioning of the separating plate relative to the fixed rotating body in the fixed unit. Thereby, the positioning unit for positioning the fixed rotating body of the fixed unit and the positioning unit for positioning the separating plate of the fixed unit are manufactured by the same mold, and the position of the separating plate relative to the fixed unit. Decision precision can be increased. It is also applicable to the positioning of the doctor blade with respect to the developing rotor in the developing unit. As a result, the positioning unit for positioning the developing rotating body of the developing unit and the positioning unit of the doctor blade of the developing unit are manufactured by the same mold. Thus, the doctor blade can be positioned with high accuracy with respect to the developing rotor.

Although the method of the present invention is applied to the cleaning blade for removing residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive member in this embodiment, it may be applied to the cleaning blade for removing the secondary transfer residual toner of the intermediate transfer belt 41.

The unit according to the present embodiment has the following effects.

First, as the rotating body positioning unit for positioning the rotating body of the frame, the positioning hole and the blade positioning unit for positioning the blade member are molded by the same mold. Thereby, unlike the error that occurs when the rotor positioning unit and the blade positioning unit are molded using separate molds, there is no assembly error of the molds. As a result, the positioning accuracy of the blade positioning unit and the rotating body positioning unit can be increased.

Secondly, the blade positioning unit is a protrusion (boss portion) protruding from the surface of the frame extending in the longitudinal direction. The height of the first reference surface as the support surface for supporting the blade member of the boss portion to prevent the blade member from moving in the weight direction is the same in the longitudinal direction or gradually lowered toward the side plate of the frame. The first reference surface becomes a positioning surface for determining the position of the blade member in the vertical direction. Therefore, if the first reference plane is molded by the first mold forming the positioning hole, the positioning error between the positioning hole and the first reference plane can be limited only to the mold manufacturing error.

Since the first mold forms the positioning holes in the side plate of the frame, it is necessary to move the first mold in the longitudinal direction. When the first mold moves in the longitudinal direction, the portion of the first mold forming the positioning hole cannot be pulled out of the molded frame. When the height of the first reference plane in the longitudinal direction is the same or gradually lowers toward the side plate, the first mold can be pulled out in the longitudinal direction without being caught by the molded first reference plane. As a result, the first mold can shape the first reference surface and the positioning hole, and it is possible to position the blade member with high accuracy with respect to the photosensitive member.

If the height of the first reference plane in the longitudinal direction is the same, positioning of the first reference plane with respect to the positioning hole is possible with high precision. When the height of the first reference plane in the longitudinal direction is reduced to incline toward the side plate, the blade member becomes the highest point of the first reference plane. Therefore, the mold can be manufactured by positioning the blade member with respect to the positioning hole in this respect. But. If the height changes out of the measurement position, the mold cannot be manufactured by positioning the first reference plane with respect to the first positioning hole with high precision. However, if the height of the first reference plane in the longitudinal direction is the same, the height does not change even if it is out of the measurement position. Therefore, the first reference plane and the first positioning hole can be positioned with high accuracy.

Third, one surface of the blade member is in close contact with the surface (blade contact surface) of the frame extending in the longitudinal direction. This determines the attitude of the blade member with respect to the frame. Therefore, when the blade contact surface is formed so that the blade member can contact the rotating body at a predetermined angle, and the blade member is installed in the frame by bringing the blade member into close contact with the blade contact surface, the following advantages are obtained. Can be. The blade member can be mounted to the frame in a position in which the blade member contacts the rotating body at a predetermined angle, and the blade member can contact the rotating body with high precision.

Fourth, the elastic plate of the blade member is fixed to the contact surface of the support plate in contact with the blade contact surface. When the elastic plate is fixed to the same surface as the surface of the support plate to which the blade is in contact, the thickness variation of the support plate can be ignored. Therefore, the blade member is positionable in the rotating body with high precision, and contactable with the rotating body with high precision.

Fifth, the rotating body is a photosensitive member as an image bearing member whose surface is moved while fixing a toner image. The blade member is a cleaning blade for removing the transfer residual toner remaining on the surface of the image carrier after the image transfer process. This allows the cleaning blade to be positioned on the photoreceptor with high precision. Therefore, the cleaning blade can contact the photosensitive member with high precision. As a result, the cleaning blade can satisfactorily remove almost circular polymerized toner having a small particle size without flipping or vibrating the blade, and can suppress the cleaning failure.

Sixth, the rotating body is a belt-shaped carrier and an intermediate transfer belt, and the blade member is a cleaning blade for removing secondary transfer residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt after the secondary transfer process. As a result, the cleaning blade can be positioned on the intermediate transfer belt with high precision. Therefore, the cleaning member can contact the intermediate transfer belt with high precision. As a result, the cleaning blade can satisfactorily remove almost circular polymerized toner having small particles without flipping or vibrating the blade, and suppressing cleaning failure.

Seventh, the cleaning failure is suppressable by using the unit described in the fifth or sixth effect, and suppresses the occurrence of abnormal images due to transfer residual toner that cannot be removed by the cleaning blade. do.

Eighth, the toner phase is formed by using a polymerized toner. If a nearly circular polymeric toner having a small particle size is used, a high quality image with excellent dot reproducibility can be obtained.

Ninth, according to the manufacturing method of the unit frame according to the present embodiment, the rotor positioning unit and the blade positioning unit of the frame are manufactured by the same mold. Due to this, it is possible to manufacture the unit frame that can be positioned with high accuracy by the blade positioning unit and the rotating body positioning unit.

Tenth, according to the manufacturing method of the unit frame according to the present embodiment, the support surface for supporting the blade member of the boss portion to prevent the blade member from moving in the gravity direction at least among the surfaces forming the boss portion is It is shape | molded by the 1st metal mold which shape | molds a whole positioning unit. Since this support surface becomes a surface for positioning the blade member in the up and down direction, when this support surface is molded by the first mold, the positioning error between the rotating body positioning unit and the support surface is merely reduced. The mold manufacturing error can be limited. Thus, it is possible to obtain a frame capable of positioning the blade member with respect to the rotating body in the vertical direction with high precision.

Eleventh, according to the unit of the present embodiment, the surface of the frame is molded on the side plate side by the first mold among the surfaces forming the boss portion. The surface of the frame of the blade positioning unit located on the side plate side becomes a portion for positioning the blade member with respect to the rotating body in the axial direction. Thus, it is possible to obtain a frame capable of positioning the blade member with respect to the rotating body in the axial direction with high precision.

As described above, the unit, the image forming apparatus, and the manufacturing method of the unit frame according to the present invention are suitable for image forming apparatuses such as copiers, printers, and faxes. In particular, the present invention is suitable for a unit and an apparatus for improving the positioning accuracy of assembly by integrally forming the rotating body positioning unit and the blade positioning unit.

Claims (12)

A rotating body; A blade arranged to extend in parallel with a longitudinal direction of the rotating body to contact the rotating body or maintain a predetermined distance from the rotating body; And And a frame in which the rotating body and the blade are installed. The frame, A rotating body positioning unit configured to position the rotating body at a predetermined position; And A blade positioning unit disposed at a lower left side of the rotating body positioning unit and configured to position the blade at a predetermined position; And said rotor positioning unit and said blade positioning unit are molded in the same mold. The method of claim 1, The frame has a side plate, The rotating body positioning unit is provided on the side plate, The blade positioning unit includes a protrusion protruding from the surface of the frame extending in the longitudinal direction of the frame, And the support surface of the protrusion on which the blade is supported to prevent the blade from moving in the direction of gravity has a constant height in the longitudinal direction or has a height lowered toward the side plate. The method of claim 1, And the face of the blade is arranged in intimate contact with the surface of the frame extending in the longitudinal direction. The method of claim 1, The blade unit comprises a support member for supporting the elastic member having an elastic member fixed to the surface of the frame and a surface disposed in close contact with the surface of the frame extending in the longitudinal direction. The method of claim 1, The rotating body includes an image carrier configured to carry a toner image on a surface of the rotating body, And the blade is configured to remove residual toner remaining on the surface of the image carrier after the transfer process. The method of claim 5, wherein And the image carrier has a belt shape. An image forming apparatus comprising the unit of claim 5, And the unit is detachably arranged in the image forming apparatus. The method of claim 7, wherein And a toner for forming the toner image is a polymerized toner. An image forming apparatus comprising the unit of claim 6, And the unit is detachably arranged in the image forming apparatus. A method of manufacturing a unit frame in which a rotating body and a blade are installed, wherein the unit frame extends parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rotating body and is arranged to contact the rotating body or to maintain a predetermined distance from the rotating body. In the manufacturing method of the unit frame, And a rotor positioning unit configured to position the rotor and a blade positioning unit configured to position the blade member are manufactured using the same mold. The method of claim 10, The rotating body positioning unit is formed on the side plate of the unit frame, The blade positioning unit is formed in a protrusion projecting from the surface of the unit frame extending in the longitudinal direction, In order to prevent the blades from moving in the direction of gravity, at least one of the supporting surfaces of the protrusions supporting the blades has a constant height in the longitudinal direction or a low height toward the side plate, and is used for forming the rotating body positioning unit. The manufacturing method of the unit frame shape | molded by a metal mold | die. The method of claim 10, The surface of the said projection part located on the side plate of the said frame is shape | molded by the metal mold | die which molds the said rotating body positioning unit.

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